This week was a big win for animal rights activists after a second pro-cockfighting bill failed to get a hearing. While that means cockfighting will remain a felony in Oklahoma, there is still another bill that activists believe is dangerous to animal welfare.
HB 2530 would have allowed each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties to vote on whether to make cockfighting a misdemeanor in their counties. Former Attorney General Drew Edmonson, who is also adamantly opposed to reducing penalties for cockfighting, said allowing each county to vote for a particular law is unprecedented.
Another similar bill, SB 1006, died more than two weeks ago.
Wayne Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action says there is a third bill, HB 1792. It’s designed to be a reclassification of a host of crimes. It includes reducing fines for cockfighting and dogfighting. Although there have been revisions, at last check the maximum fine for cockfighting would reduce to $2000, while dogfighting would reduce to $500.
It’s a lengthy bill. The original draft was 280 pages. Pacelle says it’s too vast for legislators to know everything in it.
“This is a 150-page bill,” said Pacelle. “I saw an interview with one of the leaders and he said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no cockfighting provision or dogfighting provision in the bill,’ and it’s right there in plain language. If the co-authors of the bill don’t know it’s in there, then you can bet the vast majority of other lawmakers aren’t aware, either.”
We reached out to the author of the bill, Rep. Mike Osburn, but did not hear back.
Despite how the last bill plays out, Pacelle says it is time investigators crack down on cockfighting. It’s a law that voters approved more than two decades ago.
“We’ve got to get rural sheriffs, suburban sheriffs, urban sheriffs and the federal government to crackdown on these illegal operators,” said Pacelle. “This is disgraceful that staged animal fighting and trafficking of animals is happening in Oklahoma on the scale that it is.”
Many animal rights advocates believe many sheriff's departments in rural Oklahoma turn a blind eyeto the illegal sport of cockfighting.
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